gossamorharpy

We won't have to wait too long to see where this team really stands... Take care of business this week and Michigan St will be the first true gauge for the year. Media overreacted to the sparty game against oregon as usual, that was a back and forth game until the last quarter in Eugene. How we show up and play in east Lansing in a game that's bound to get national coverage and broadcast against an established, quality team will be telling.

Not sure where else I should post this... but whats the consensus on color to sport? I'll be making the trip from the bay area and would usually rock the red... With Fresno sT being red and all, are ppl planning on rocking white or black to stand out a bit?

Various family members and buddies that are still undergrads in Lincoln gripe about the actual time of the game more than anything else. The abundance of mid afternoon games the past few seasons and lack of night games does not sit well with youngins who would rather spend their afternoon boozin it up with buddies and then hit up the game at night. This has nothing to do with actual buying of tickets but certainly plays a role in the student section being somewhat empty towards the tops.

Stop it you two, you're giving me a BOner. Kind of exciting when you look at those names isn't it? Why do I do this to myself? I feel hope and expectations creeping up inside me already and the season only ended yesterday. I'm an idiot and I never learn. This, my friend, is why college football is the greatest sport around.

Yep, they have JF and that's it... nothin but the first freshman heisman winner in history, no biggie. What a sham and mockery, such a scam to have them listed above us.

ESPN is likely quite aware of reasons for adding Rutgers and Maryland to the B10. Hmmm...let's see, how much coverage does the Big Ten Network get? How much did they spend on Bevo Network? How many people watch that? Hmmmm...you think maybe they would like to take our network down a notch? Yes and that scathing article in the OP is just the first missile. Good freaking God. Espn writing an article accurately saying Nebraska hasn't exactly set the conference on fire when they were picked to win it the first year they joined, or kinda isn't once the program it once was on the whole isn't some sort of grand conspiracy to kill the Big Ten Network. If any was going 11-2 and they wrote that, maybe you'd have something. But all that article is at the moment is accurate. I'm not sure I'd use "accurately" or "accurate" when referring to ESPN. Ratings and accuracy have different definitions. The dude was referring to ESPN being accurate within the article.... Lot of ppl sure are griping on here about this list yet no one can seem to provide justification as to why we should be ranked any higher.

When it was first announced we were moving I absolutely expected to be paired with Iowa and Wiscy and Minny and Purplecats. My buddy called me all excited and I said "Big 12 North 2.0". Then they gave us a good division with a sh**ty name and I was surprised. Well they fixed the name but we ended up with 2.0 anyway. At least Wiscy is consistently competetive. Can't we view this though as an opportunity for us? Florida ST, almost ohio state this year, notre dame last year and countless others have proven that if you go undefeated or 1 loss in a "power" conference that you have a great shot at the title game- without needing a signature win to get there. Frankly I agree with you and would match rather have us get at least 3 quality games a year against the likes of the OSUs, Mich/Penn sts of the conference. But this is also a great opportunity to consistently be in the conference title game.

How would you have ranked this list if its such an issue having A&M and Missou 1 and 2? Both of those programs have made leaps and bounds recently. What have we done that would allow you to continue to read the article? A&M beat Bama once, we beat Ohio State once. Mizzou lost a title game , we lost a title game. In terms of success overall, were quite paralell. The only true difference is the logo on their fields say SEC. Ok yeah we beat a poorly coached tOSU and got embarassed in our title game. But really overall conference records are probably similar considering Mizzous sad 2012. Im simply guessing here. Haha, touche, was about to counter you with comparing the actual games but you beat me to it. You somewhat alluded to this but there's more to it then just the lettering of the league on the field... A&M and Missou get the press because it wasn't just a poorly coached team and title game loss they were in, it was having a heisman winner- beating Nick Saban and Bama (eventual champ) @ Bama and then missouri being one of the top 5 teams in the country in terms of consistency this past year.

How would you have ranked this list if its such an issue having A&M and Missou 1 and 2? Both of those programs have made leaps and bounds recently. What have we done that would allow you to continue to read the article?

The way this topic is worded is somewhat off-basis. No where in the article does it say Nebraska lost out in realignment. Its more of a summary and look back at how various teams have performed and how it has affected that team. Just because we haven't lived up to the lofty standards we assumed we could achieve with the move, doesn't necessarily mean we lost out in realignment. A boost in national perception, competitive standing and future outlook were placed right on the table for our taking and we fell flat on our faces. Whether you want to attribute that to crap recruiting for Bo in the early years, an inordinate amount of injuries, bad play calling, etc. This seems to be more of a reflective piece as opposed to we lost out and made a bad choice making the move

Who gives a rat's posterior what ESPN "says"? Hmmmm- well, I can think of a few reasons. Maybe because they are the only sports outlet that provides around the clock coverage, whether that be actual sports or BS side stories, no other network comes close to their offering. As much as you may disagree with ESPN's style, you're being rather ignorant if you think no one cares what ESPN says. There coverage, power and influence they have in sports is unmatched and is often the reason why they can spin up and run with stories with no basing because the masses will pay attention. Not to mention that probably 99% of High school sports fans will say ESPN is their go to network for sports coverage- so what ESPN has to say about Nebraska football does have some affect on our affairs. I would say quite a bit of people care what ESPN has to say.

I think that's exactly why we received those grades, nothing but average in most categories. We haven't done anything to move the needle to greatly improve in any of these areas since our move- makes sense to receive a C-B- as a result.

Can't say I disagree with this list, only have ourselves to blame. I would, however, disagree with the improved visibility only being a C+. This past year didn't have many games on National TV, but the 2 years prior we had a good run of ABC games between the Wisconsin, Mich st, ohio st, penn st match ups. This was not always the case in the Big 12. Living out here in CA, any knock on visibility can only be blamed on our lackluster performances- not necessarily due to BIG 10 reasons. Also- I wouldn't say that we have almost been reduced to 2nd tier status behind the likes of Ohio St; sadly we're already there.

Except that this vaunted Texas pipeline also includes hundreds of players that are quality college players that don't make the NFL, when the stats you've posted are only NFL players. There's more to a quality college team than just future NFL players. Takes a high # of quality players to be great, not necessarily just those who go on to play in the NFL.

i agree with this and this is what i was getting at. texas should be no.1. is bama no.1 just because of recent history and the machine saban has built during his tenure? Very hard to argue against Texas as #1... they can pretty much recruit their whole class year after year instate... Not to mention the $$ pull and Longhorn network. CFB as we know it could be over if these Saban to Texas rumors ever pan out.

The NFL is a good barometer for judging the skill level of players on your team. While it is by no means the end all be all, look at who Nebraska sent to the NFL after the 2009/2010 seasons and who they send after the 2012/2013 seasons. That 2009 team was loaded with NFL talent and it correlated to having one of the best defense in Nebraska football history. Compare that to last year where there was almost no NFL talent and our defense, outside of pass defense, was pretty average at best. Again, who gets drafted in the NFL is certainly not the only measuring stick for how good a player/team is, but I think there's something to be said for the idea that when there's a really good football team, you usually see quite a few players head to the NFL. When a team is average/bad, not as many players make the next step. I'd agree with this... If Nebraska is to ever get back to the level of competition and success we all expect from a national and league title contender, you better believe it needs to coincide with us putting some top picks in the draft (first couple of rounds, not necessarily top 10). It's not hard to find a correlation that the teams who are consistently top 10 are usually the schools with multiple top 4 round picks. Look at who's doing their thing for us in the NFL, Suh, David, Dennard, Prince- All guys who were top round picks (barring dennard's run in with the cops) and guys who led our team and consistently made plays for shut down defenses. Remains to be seen if this staff has the recruiting and development skills to finally send an offensive player early in the draft.

It's a very lack luster line up to say the least. Oregon Texas is the only matchup that somewhat peaks my interest after the first look at the games. Would have enjoyed an Oregon Ohio st matchup as opposed to Clemson gettin in after doing jack all year.

Had an "interesting" conversation with my boss and coworkers today at lunch, boss went to school at Wisconsin and the others are die hard college football fans... He brought up an interesting point that as much as he despises Ohio State and there fans, that this may be the first time in his life he's pulling for an Ohio State win. His rationale is that it would benefit the Big 10 greatly if Ohio St were to win tomorrow and then go on and potentially win the title. I know a buckeye title doesn't redeem an overall poor season by the Big 10 in general but interested to see what other people think on this? I would never pull for a Texas squad but do remember pulling for Stoops and the OU teams in their various title games as it would seem to benefit the conference as a whole having the champ hail from your league. Not to mention help bring an end to the ESPN perceived SEC domination. On the flip side to this... Interested to see how Husker fans on this board will respond to the SEC title game tomorrow. Always enjoyed the Nebraska/Missouri games, specially the years right before the break up of the original Big12 as Missouri finally became a formidable program from a consistency and success stand point. That being said, which would you prefer? To see Auburn stick it to Missouri or for Mizzou to go in their and prove something to the so called "SEC Elite?" Figure this would be a great topic to see where people stand that doesn't fall under the topic of Bo stays or Bo goes.

You had me at dammit, I'm convinced

At the same time though, you gotta realize national media like these guys are only going to see the best and worst of what Bo brings to the table. Unfortunately the only relevant Nebraska story in 2+ years has been blow outs, losing games late, and Bo Pelini antics.

Yeah I am going to argue about whether if he is good or not because he is not. Oh yeah NFL teams are just going nuts of this guy that cant throw has great speed in the college game but so-so speed in the NFL!!! Give me a break I bet you thought Eric Crouch was going to be a hell of an NFL QB to!! He EC couldn't even win the starting QB job for a semi-pro team. What a joke statement If shoelace can get drafted, so can Martinez. Shoelace actually has lateral moves, speed and quickness... Martinez great straight line runner, but lateral movements, deception, shiftiness, etc- not so much.

The distinguishing characteristic given was 'big games', not all games. Not exactly a scientific metric for determining what is or isn't big, but I looked mostly at games in hostile environments, primetime national matchups and against ranked teams. I'm going to echo Knapp and say, yes, please, come back at me with statistics to prove your point. But even if you do, you're having it both ways. You can't simultaneously discredit him for single-handedly losing us games while also discrediting him for not single-handedly winning us games. Actually you know nevermind, I'll do the statistics myself thanks: 2010 Washington (First ever game against BCS competition in the loudest stadium in the country) 150 yards passing, 1 TD, 0 picks - 137 yards rushing, 3 TD 2010 Kansas State (Thursday night conference opener on national primetime television) 128 yards passing, 1 TD, 0 picks - 241 yards rushing, 4 TD 2010 Oklahoma State (Away game against #14 ranked team) 323 yards passing, 5 TD, 0 INT - 112 yards rushing 2010 Missouri (Against #6 ranked team) 115 yards passing, 1 TD, 0 INT - 16 yards rushing (was injured in the 3rd quarter) 2011 Ohio State (Primetime national game against a bad OSU team that still had elite talent) 191 yards passing, 2 TD, 1 INT - 102 yards rushing, 1 TD 2011 Michigan State (Against #9 ranked team) 80 yards passing, 1 TD, 1 INT - 23 yards rushing 2011 Penn State (Away game against #12 ranked team) 143 yarsd passing, 0 TD, 0 INT - 56 yards rushing 2012 Wisconsin (Primetime national game) 181 yards passing, 2 TD, 0 INT - 107 yards rushing, 1 TD 2012 Northwestern (Away game against the team that finished the season #16) 342 yards passing, 3 TD, 0 INT - 65 yards rushing, 1 TD 2012 Michigan (Against #20 ranked team) 166 yards passing, 1 TD, 1 INT - 58 yards rushing 2012 Michigan State (Away game, quasi night/primetime game. Debatable on 'big game' metrics I suppose) 160 yards passing, 2 TD, 3 INT - 205 yards rushing, 2 TD Thank you for showing the individual game stats for I was too lazy to click on each game. I'll be the first to agree that Taylor had monster performances at times but in no way did he "carry" the team or was the reason for some of those victories. Look at the flip side to some of those games you cites- 2012 Wisconsin win, great comeback win on national TV against a team we were favored to beat and then get smoked 2 1/2 months later on national TV by the same team. 2011 Ohio state? That's a reach, considering they went 6-7, fresh off the Tressel story and was a mess in every facet that year,. I know our QB situation is not something to be desired this year and Taylor should start the bowl game if healthy as he does give our team the best chance to win, but he has also been guilty of not showing up on big stages. When I recall Taylor's career for what he is responsible for (not how atrocious our defense has been, although this does affect him too) I will remember a guy who had some great games here and there, sprinkled in with some real duds and just average overall play. For someone who was always mentioned as a dark horse heisman candidate to start the year, never once did he live up to those expecations (barring injury(

2010 Washington, 2010 Kansas State, 2010 Missouri, 2010 Oklahoma State, 2011 Ohio State, 2011 Michigan State, 2011 Penn State, 2012 Wisconsin, 2012 Northwestern, 2012 Michigan and 2012 Michigan State disagree with your assessment that he almost always under performed. Please, if you go back and actually look at the box scores Martinez did jack in a lot of those games. If I recall, 2010 missouri was Helu's 300 yard rushing performance and a lot of these games you mention coincide with a huge performance from one of our backs or timely play by our defense. People seem to be real quick to forget games where he single handily threw us out of games by throwing horrible picks without a nebraska receiver within 5-10 yards of the ball. Not sure how confident I'd feel having him in there when he hasn't been able to suit up, much less run normally since September. By all means, debunk Landlord's list with stats to back up your claims. And please provide a list of games, with stats supporting your claim, that Taylor "single-handedly threw us out of games." You could cite 2011 Wisconsin and 2011 Michigan, but you'd also have to throw in (to meet your standard of how Taylor didn't help us win those games because another player's big performance coincided with the win) the defense's utter meltdowns in those games as well. Also, how bout 2012 ohio state. Prime time national TV and martinez chucks 3 Ints as both our offense and defense get embarrassed on national TV

2010 Washington, 2010 Kansas State, 2010 Missouri, 2010 Oklahoma State, 2011 Ohio State, 2011 Michigan State, 2011 Penn State, 2012 Wisconsin, 2012 Northwestern, 2012 Michigan and 2012 Michigan State disagree with your assessment that he almost always under performed. Please, if you go back and actually look at the box scores Martinez did jack in a lot of those games. If I recall, 2010 missouri was Helu's 300 yard rushing performance and a lot of these games you mention coincide with a huge performance from one of our backs or timely play by our defense. People seem to be real quick to forget games where he single handily threw us out of games by throwing horrible picks without a nebraska receiver within 5-10 yards of the ball. Not sure how confident I'd feel having him in there when he hasn't been able to suit up, much less run normally since September. By all means, debunk Landlord's list with stats to back up your claims. And please provide a list of games, with stats supporting your claim, that Taylor "single-handedly threw us out of games." You could cite 2011 Wisconsin and 2011 Michigan, but you'd also have to throw in (to meet your standard of how Taylor didn't help us win those games because another player's big performance coincided with the win) the defense's utter meltdowns in those games as well. Gladly, here's a link that breaks down his statistical performance against every team he played, scroll to the bottom, also provides info for home/road, conference records etc. http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/taylor-martinez-1/splits/ Very apparent he racked up the bulk of his stats against inferior competition (as do all players) but then dipped dramatically when facing opponents that did not consistently give up 80 yard runs right up the middle to him

2010 Washington, 2010 Kansas State, 2010 Missouri, 2010 Oklahoma State, 2011 Ohio State, 2011 Michigan State, 2011 Penn State, 2012 Wisconsin, 2012 Northwestern, 2012 Michigan and 2012 Michigan State disagree with your assessment that he almost always under performed. Please, if you go back and actually look at the box scores Martinez did jack in a lot of those games. If I recall, 2010 missouri was Helu's 300 yard rushing performance and a lot of these games you mention coincide with a huge performance from one of our backs or timely play by our defense. People seem to be real quick to forget games where he single handily threw us out of games by throwing horrible picks without a nebraska receiver within 5-10 yards of the ball. Not sure how confident I'd feel having him in there when he hasn't been able to suit up, much less run normally since September.